Last week saw the Arcata Rising fundraiser for the victims of the fire on Jan. 2 take over Humbrews from Friday to Sunday. I am not a very good chronicler of live music when it comes to the straight-story style of reporting; I tend to paint by impressions rather than numbers, for better or for worse. Friday sold out fast, Saturday was wall to wall and loud, and Sunday was a bit more subdued, as I encountered it from the outside fringes. My friend, the musician Oryan Peterson-Jones, played a solo acoustic set on the window stage on Saturday night and on the main stage on Sunday with his group The Uncredible Phin Band, with which I have played bass. I asked him for a succinct impression of the vibe from the vantage point of a performer, the best seat in the house. He said he felt the best during the all-ages portion of Saturday evening because the age spectrum of the audience was an arc that covered children to gray-hairs and all points in between. That’s not so common these days — particularly indoors, in clubs — and when it happens, it shimmers like a sweet memory haunting an old picture from a lost age. While the jagged burn-scape sat miserably across the street from Humbrews in its charred and vulgar rictus, people came together and partied. The soul of the community lives on next to an abased and wretched corpse of better times.
Life has been getting harder for quite a while now, and fun is rarer these days, an early victim of austere decline and nationwide administrative malfeasance and insanity. Everything is tough, the margins are thinner, life is meaner and no end seems in sight. So that terrible fire on the second day of the new year was much more devastating on a psychic and emotional scale. However, the solidarity of the community on display since that horror is all the more important and heartening. The government has largely abandoned us, or taken on a role of violent cruelty and graft across the country, so we work harder to keep a hold on each other. We will probably have to do more, so it’s a good time to get used to it and find a way to make it as fun as possible.
Fun really matters right now, as does community. I don’t mention this often, but covering live music over the last few years has made me very sad more than a few times, in more than a few ways. Venues close, practice spaces get too expensive, touring is becoming nearly impossible for many bands, and our political culture has become more oppressive and hatefully reactionary. People are upset and violence is seething on the edges of every slice of life. We have lost so much and it is no comfort to wonder how much more can be taken away before we collapse. What happened in a few fiery and calamitous hours has been happening in slower and less sensational ways for years now, across a financial system and through our social contract. And unlike the now-extinguished fire, the temperature is still rising.
I often end my intros with an encouragement for you to have a good time and take care of each other. It never seems repetitive to me because I really mean it. We are all keeping our communal flame alive, something essential that is mostly warming and illuminating because fire — metaphorical or literal — is a tool as well as a great destroyer. And one day, it might be focused against our oppressors and the problems they’ve created, illuminating the path to a bright new day. Meanwhile, party on and get together more often. In times like these, it’s always for a good cause.
Thursday
Veteran independent folk musician Alice Di Micele built a career by releasing her music on her own label and spreading her fanbase outward from her local Oregon scene to the world at large. This has allowed her to enjoy an uncompromised career focused on her musical talents and passion for environmental and social issues without the baggage of corporate bondage. This is admirable and worth celebrating along with her four decades of songs. You can join in that celebration tonight at 7 p.m. at the Arcata Playhouse, where tickets will run you $20-$50 in a sliding scale, pay what you can afford deal. Medford musician Andy Casad provides accompaniment.
Friday
Speaking of the Arcata Playhouse, there’s an anti-imperialism benefit show called Common Denominator put on by the folks in the Humboldt Anti-War Committee and Hip Hop Humboldt as a show of solidarity for the people of Palestine and Venezuela. The line-up is diverse, with jazzy pop tunes from Swingo Domingo, heavier and different fare from Something Wicked and Little Brain, and a rap set by my brother, the immensely talented ruffIAN. Tickets are only $5 and the doors open at 6 p.m., so come and mingle.
Saturday
Humbrews is hosting Oregon band Watkins Glen Soulshine Daydream, an improv jam band that smears fresh sounds across the songs of iconic hippie-era acts The Grateful Dead, The Allman Brothers Band, Little Feat and The Band. The OGs might be over the rainbow sea, but their acolytes still defend the faith. Check it out at 8:30 p.m. ($25, $20 advance).
Meanwhile it’s another House Night down the street at Havana at 9 p.m. Entrance is free before 10 p.m., $5 after, and will be curated by Rikki, Starr Kitty and YUHKUTA.
Super Bowl Sunday
It’s America’s biggest unofficial holiday, celebrating a sport created, according to journalist Chuck Klosterman, in the wake of the Civil War to keep college men from becoming soft in what was assumed to be an era of lasting peace. Oh well. Like all traditions in this country, football has mutated into something big, loud, ugly and, most importantly, extremely profitable. You’re not in that club, though, so try not to lose the entire piggybank on the outcome.
Monday
Whether you lost the whole banana yesterday, expressed yourself in a different fashion vicariously through your favorite team, just ate some snacks and hollered, or abstained entirely from the big billion-dollar ordeal, you have my sympathy. But nothing else, I am afraid.
Tuesday
The Old Steeple is welcoming the return of Willie Nelson’s youngest son Micah, aka Particle Kid, as he brings his chops back to the stage for an acoustic show, sans the guitar effects and loops that he is often known for. This should be a good time regardless, and early too, with a 7:30 p.m. start ($26.50).
Wednesday
Mark Hummel’s Blues Harmonica Blowout pretty much says it all, and tonight’s program will see the Humbrews stage peopled with ace blues musicians Curtis Salgado,Steve Freund,Wes Starr,Rodrigo Mantovani, and Anson Funderburgh providing the foundation for harp wizards RJ Misho and Magic Dick from the J. Geils Band along with the titular host. Forty bucks gets you in the door and the tunes start after 8 p.m.
Collin Yeo (he/him) desperately wants to live in a world that isn’t ruled by genocidal pedophiles and is open to any suggestions on how to make that happen.
This article appears in Arcata Rises Up for Fire Victims.